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Do women receive less blame than men? Attribution of outcomes in a prosocial setting

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  • Erkal, Nisvan
  • Gangadharan, Lata
  • Koh, Boon Han

Abstract

We examine gender biases in the attribution of leaders’ outcomes to their choices versus luck. Leaders make unobservable investment choices that affect the payoffs of group members. High investment is costly to the leader but increases the probability of an outcome with a high payoff. We observe gender biases in the attribution of low outcomes. Low outcomes of male (female) leaders are attributed more to their selfish decisions (bad luck). These biases are driven by male evaluators. We find no gender differences in the attribution of high outcomes.

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  • Erkal, Nisvan & Gangadharan, Lata & Koh, Boon Han, 2023. "Do women receive less blame than men? Attribution of outcomes in a prosocial setting," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 441-452.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:210:y:2023:i:c:p:441-452
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.04.003
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    2. Nisvan Erkal & Lata Gangadharan & Boon Han Koh, 2023. "Discrimination in Evaluation Criteria: The Role of Beliefs versus Outcomes," Discussion Papers 2316, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    3. Catherine C. Eckel & Lata Gangadharan & Philip J. Grossman & Miranda Lambert & Nina Xue, 2024. "The gender leadership gap in competitive and cooperative institutions," Monash Economics Working Papers 2024-10, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    4. Alexander Coutts & Boon Han Koh & Zahra Murad, 2024. "The signals we give: Performance feedback, gender, and competition," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2024-02, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender biases; Beliefs; Attribution biases; Leadership; Social preferences; Laboratory experiments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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